INDIA'S MARS MISSION - A REASON FOR THE NATION TO CELEBRATE!

By Ruma Dubey

“India's first Mars orbiter mission takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 2.38pm”

Today is a historic day for India; after all it does not happen every day that India launches an orbiter to Mars. Aptly named as Mangalyaan (Mars is known as Mangal in Hindi and various other Indian dialect), this is a victory for our space scientists and a small attempt at showing to the world that India did indeed, at one time, produce a Aryabhatta.

It is a proud moment, something which we Indians have not had for a long time now. We get titles like ‘rape capital of India’, ‘most corrupt nation’, ‘fastest growing population’ and many more such superlatives but such moments are rare. Let us revel in this moment and make the most of it – maybe the best moment after our World Cup victory?

There are many who are frowning on this moment, voicing their dissent, saying that it is a sheer waste of money and something which India simply cannot afford with so many poor living in the country. Many ask the point of this Mars mission when people on earth do not get two square meals a day. Or there are some who feel that such missions only further go on to pollute the earth and add to global warming. And then there are some who say that Rs.450 crore spent on this mission could have been used to build toilets and control diseases.

All facts accepted but does that mean that India should only concentrate on poverty, toilet, malaria and population and never make attempts to rise above that?  These are endemic issues of India and it will take a while to resolve. It’s like saying that if a person is poor, he should not even dream of being rich as he simply cannot afford it.

This leap into space for India is as important as other social issues. It is an attempt to show to the world that not all brains have drained out of India, we still have scientists in India who can put together a completely indigenous orbiter. Yes, this mars mission, may actually prompt many students to look at career prospects as a space scientist or even as an astronomer.  We are proud of Indian born-American Kalpana Chawla; so why not a fully Indian astronomer? Yes, the Mars mission can give wings to aspirations to many young Indian minds.  In recent times, we have had no Indian scientist making a name world wide. Aryabhatta was a long long time ago, around 3600 years ago. If we come from a heritage of such an illustrious mathematician and scientist, which also gave us Bhaskara and Bhramagupta, why have our abilities diminished so much today? We follow age-old rituals and superstitions but why no emulators of these scientists. Just as Sardar Patel has been resuscitated, maybe the Mars mission will revive scientists in India.

Yes, we have poverty and many cannot afford even one meal a day. But that alone cannot be life and certainly not a vibrant country like India. Unless we develop, economically, and create a standing for ourselves in the global arena, socially, nothing much will change.

Politicians will continue to do what they do but true leaders are indeed the path breaking scientists, industrialists, entrepreneurs, social workers who swim against the tide and instill that faith and hope in us that yes, we can indeed make a difference.

Just as the nation celebrated the victory of the World Cup, we should celebrate our Mars Mission; as we said earlier, this is not something which happens every day.